Background picture Thanksgiving at our house in Alvin, TX with Al's Ethiopian friend and our family
Immigration/Ethiopia - USA
Al had a friend at work who was on a work VISA from Ethiopia. She had been trying for several years with no luck to get her sister out of Ethiopia and into the US.
It was during the period of time when the government in Ethiopia was killing Christians. She asked Al if we would try to get her sister a VISA to live in the USA for humanitarian reasons (her life was in danger) and to go to college. She would support her, pay her college tuition (she could afford to with her at Houston Beechcraft) and her sister could live with her.
We called the Immigration office in DC and they sent us paperwork. We filled out all the papers saying we would support her so she would not be on welfare should the need arise. It took about 4 months of phone calls and paperwork to get her US Visa. It took another two months of talking to the Ethiopian government and more paperwork to get her into Houston; but it finally happened.
We had saved one Christian from persecution. Even though it took a lot of prayer, was time consuming and frustrating, it was also very rewarding.
When Al's Ethiopian friend at work got married a year later, she invited us. She had an Ethiopia/Christian wedding and dinner reception. Ethiopian food dishes were served and we sat of the floor to eat at a low table. The flat bread was our plate and eating utensil. They made a meat and cracked wheat dish that was out of this world good.
Isa 58:5-11 Is it a fast that I have chosen, A day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush, And to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Would you call this a fast, And an acceptable day to the LORD? "Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, To undo the heavy burdens, To let the oppressed go free, And that you break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; When you see the naked, that you cover him, And not hide yourself from your own flesh? Then your light shall break forth like the morning, Your healing shall spring forth speedily, And your righteousness shall go before you; The glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; You shall cry, and He will say, 'Here I am.' "If you take away the yoke from your midst, The pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, If you extend your soul to the hungry And satisfy the afflicted soul, Then your light shall dawn in the darkness, And your darkness shall be as the noonday. The LORD will guide you continually, And satisfy your soul in drought, And strengthen your bones; You shall be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.